Casing tobacco



April 12, 1932. G. D. HARRIS;

CASING TOBACCO Filed Nov. 28 1928 Patented Apr. l 2, 1932 v UNITED. sT T s PATENT oFFicE' 1 i non HARRIS, or soum) amen, conmicrrcu'r, nssrenon To an mnusrnm DRYER CORPORATION, OI STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, A. CORPORATION OKCONNECTI- CASING TOBACCO Application filed November as; 1928. tenant. mamas.-

At the ends of the products chamber tical flues E, F, connectin at their lower ends with duct C and at t eir upper ends with a horizontal duct or chamber G the latter being abovethe tank'D and said '0 am- This invention pertains to casing tobacco without injur thereto.

. Itlias long cm recognized that the quality .of tobacco, such as tobacco used for cigar.

5 wrappers, would be greatly improved if the are verand, second, exposing the tobacco to the ac-' revailing mode of surfaceiwetting, such as y dipping or spraying, or both, and subsequentIy shaking could be eliminated.

My process is a. method of easing tobacco without dipping, spraying, or surface wetting, and it overcomesthe effects resulting from modes of treatment above described.

Theb major object of this invention 1s to hu midifyor case tobacco-to such a degree that it is in the best possible condition for working without lessening the quality of the product in any manner whatsoever, by charging the conditioning gas to substantial saturation with water vapor.

which may be either dryair or humidified-air,

tion of humidified air the temperature of which is increased.

Under the conditions recited, the tobacco assimilates moisture from air which is charged with moisture to substantially the point of saturation, although the temperature of the humidified air is maintained at a point at which the heat present in the'air has no injurious effect on the tobacco.

It is known that tobacco is required to be permeated with moisture to place the tobacco in workable condition, and my process makes it possible to condition the tobacco without detriment thereto.

- One form of apparatus suitable for the practice of 'my process is shown in companying lustrates diagrammatically a longitudinal sectional view through the said apparatus.

. A designates a products chamber within which leaf tobacco is supported in a desirable way, as by means of rods or bars B.

-The floor a of the chamber is perforated at a, and below this floor is a duct C. ,"Above My invention in one phase comprises, first, cooling the tobacco by exposing it to air the ac-, drawing, wherein the figure il-- ber functioning-as a humidify'ingchamber or duct. A closed path for the circulation of air is afforded by products chamber A, humid-- ifying chamberG and. flues or d'ucts C, E, F, so that airwill flow into and out of the.

products chamber by way of perforations a and tubes (1. I

Air is circulated by one for more fans H positioned in flues E, F, or in humidifying chamber G;

I are air coolers shown dpositioned within the vertical flues E,'F, sai air coolers being shownas coils having valved Pipes 2', i, for controllin the flow of a cooling agent into and out o the coils, said cooling agent being of any kind or nature, such as cold water. 'Forthe discharge of the water of condensation, trays y are below the coils, and'from said trays extend pipes j for ca rying the water away-fromthe circulatory ath.

The air circulated by the fans I flows .through chamber G and above the water tank,-D, and at such period of flow, the air is charged with-water vapor to substantial moisture saturation. The water vapor is generated by heat-supplied to the water tank D, and as one means for the heat supply reof tank Dand to which members or units an I electrical current'is supplied from a suitable source.

The fiow current .is controllable and regulatable by electrical means, such as a switch and appropriate mechanism, whereby the current maybe cut off andjadmitted as required or desirable.-

Water vapor is generated by heat to the exclusion of air, and such vapor emanates from the water and is difiused into the air flowing in chamber or duct '0, with the-result that a true humidity is imparted to the air, the latter functioning as .a carrier for humidity. Thus the moisture generated in one chamber is conveyed by the air flow to the In the servlce of the machine, tobacco in leaf form is placed within the products chamher, and the fan is set in motion for circulating air through said products chamber and the humidifier, and into contact with the" coolers. The humidifier generates water vapor which is picked up by the air so as to charge the air with moisture to substantial saturation. Air flowing into contact with coils J iscooled to adesired temperature and such cooled air flows intothe products chamberfor cooling the tobacco and decreas- 1 a zone containing the tobacco and over the ing its temperature.

One desirable mode of procedure'for casing tobacco is to shut off the vapor generafi tor, and to circulate air into contact with the coolers acting to cool the air to a desired temperature, and such cooled air flows through the products chamber for cooling the tobacco therein, reducing the temperature of the product. The tobacco having been cooled, the vapor generator is brought into service by setting up the flow of current through the submerged heater, for generating water vapor, the same being diflused into the flowing air with the result that the air is humidified to substantial saturation.

The-humidified air is circulated through the products chamber and thus the tobacco leaf, in a cool condition, is exposed to the action of the humidified air, with the result that the tobacco assimilates moisture from the flowing air. The cool tobacco is at a temperature less than the temperature of humidified air, and the moisture present in the air .is

assimilated by condensation 1n the tobacco,

the moisture being diflused into all parts of the leaf. The operations are conducted eificiently without alteration in the physical characteristics of the leaf, and the treatment is carried out with expedition and economy.

Cooling of tobacco prior to the humidification has the effect of equalizing the temperature of all the leaves and permits more uniform casing of all the leaves in the hand when subsequently treated with humidified gas.

In the exposure of the leaf to air at the first stage of the treatment, the air may be dry or humidified air, the temperature being such as to cool the tobacco. If desired, the air circulated at the first stage may be humidified by service of. the vapor generator, but at this first stage the coolers are effective in cooling the air by reduction in temperature. At the second stage of the treatment, the humidifier is in service for the genera" tion of water vapor difluscd into the flowing air, and said humidifier is controllable for raising the temperature of the operating air, concurrently with the diffusion of moisture,

the coolers being either out of service or in service, as required, at said second stage.

While the present invention has been described employing air as the treating fluid,

I wish it to be clearly understood that any other gas suitable for the purpose may be employed with equally desirable results, com sequently, wherever the term air is employed, this term is intended to include other gases having properties suitable for treating the tobacco. a 1 Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A process of easing tobacco comprising circulating a gasin a closed circuit through surface of a body of liquid, cooling the gas as it flows from the chamber contaming the material tobe treated to the body of water, and subsequently heating the body of water to generate water vapor, difl'using the water vapor into the gas to effect substantially com- 'plete saturation of the gas with vapors and to heat the gas, and circulating the gas without cooling, in contact with the tobacco.

- 2. .A process for conditioning tobacco comprising supplying moisture to a conditioning gas by passing the gas over a body of water, conveying the gas into a zone containing the tobacco, and recycling the gas over the surface of the body of water, cooling the gas in one stage of treatment as it passes from the zone containing the tobacco to the body of water and in a subsequent stage heating the gas by heating the body of water to effect the generation of vapors to supply heat to. the gas and to substantially completely saturate the gas with moisture, and circulating the gas cyclically over the heated body of water and through the zone containing the tobacco without cooling. I

3. A process for easing tobacco comprising circulatmg'a gas in a closed circuit, including a conditioning zone and 'a zone containing the tobacco to be treated, maintaining a body of water in the conditioning zone over the surface of which the gas passes in circulating through the closed circuit, cooling the tobacco in the zone containing the same by cooling the gas while passing from one zone to the other, and subsequently supplying heat to the body of water in the conditioning zone to raise the temperature of the gas passed thereover and to substantially completely saturate the gas with moisture, and passing the heated substantially completely saturated gas in contact with the tobacco to case the same. Y

4. A process for casing tobacco comprising circulating a gas in a closed circuit including .a conditionin zone and a zone containing tobacco whic passing the gas over the surface of a. body has been precooled,

of liquid, heating the liquid to vaporize the same, and controlling the rate at which heat units are supplied to the liquid body to effect substantially complete saturation of the gas with vapor and to maintain the temperature of the gas above the temperature of the precooled tobacco, and passing the gas while substantially completely saturated with vapor in contact with the precooled tobacco, the saturation of the gas and the heating of the gas being efiected'exclusively by the heat supplied to the body of liquid.

5. In the art of humidifying materials, the process which consists in generating water vapor by the action of heat in the presence of Water, cooling air, substantially completely saturating the air with the water vapor, the heat in which conditions the air in the presence of the Water vapor for the absorption of such vapor whereby the air is substantially completely saturated, exposing the material to the treated air to cool the ma--.

terial, and subsequently exposing the material to substantially completely moisture saturated air at a higher temperature to effeet the assimilation of moisture in the material.

6. Inthe art of casing tobacco, the process which consists in exposing tobacco to cooled air to reduce the temperature of the tobacco, subsequently setting up a flow of air at a higher temperature, vaporizing water by the action of heat in the presence of water to the exclusion of air, thereby generating water vapor, charging the flowing air with water vapor to a substantially complete saturation, and exposing the cooled tobacco in leaf form to the access of the substantially complete moisture saturated air.

7 In the art of easing tobacco, the process which consists in setting up a flow of cooled air, vaporizing water by the action of heat in the presence of water to the exclusion of air, thereby generating water vapor, charg ing the flowing air with water vapor to a substantially complete saturation, and exposing tobacco in leaf form to the access of the substantially complete moisture saturated air, and subsequently exposing the cooled tobacco to air at a higher temperature and which is substantially completely saturated with moisture. 4

In testimony whereof I have hereto signed my name this 26th day of November, 1928. GORDON DON HARRIS. 

